Volunteering is one of the best ways to give back this holiday season

As a new swim instructor for the University of Pennsylvania’s Special Needs Undergraduate Swim Lessons, a club that provides one-on-one swim lessons to special-needs children in Philadelphia, I see how difficult it can be to run a volunteer-based organization. There are numerous intricacies, from the typical to the unexpected. Every volunteer has to complete a background check, and the board had to figure out where to swim while Sheer Pool, the usual location of lessons, is under renovation.

Volunteering has been extremely rewarding and has connected me with a strongly knit community of passionate volunteers. Additionally, through volunteering to teach swimming throughout high school and now in college, I have been able to form long-standing connections with the people I teach. This holiday season, volunteering with organizations in need is one of the best ways to give back. I’ve seen through my work with girls’ empowerment groups and teaching swimming that there’s a great need for community involvement with youth, especially adolescent girls.

Philadelphia Girls on the Run coaches third through eighth-grade girls in physical activity and emotional awareness. With their Fall Season Celebratory 5K Fun Run coming up on Sunday, the need for volunteers is pressing. Over 100 volunteers are necessary to run the event. Volunteers can be involved in more typical roles such as handing out water and checking other volunteers in, or roles specific to the race, such as being a Finisher Fairy who walks with and cheers on the last group of girls to finish. Events like these remind us why girls’ empowerment groups are crucial to helping build up the next generation of girls.

Girls’ empowerment groups work toward uplifting adolescent girls, typically through affirmations and positive self-talk. Each group incorporates different discussions and empowerment exercises into their meetings. In high school, I volunteered with I-tri Girls, a nonprofit organization that empowers and trains middle school girls for a triathlon. An empowerment tool we used was focusing on the importance of accepting and treasuring compliments. Smart Fit Girls, a nationwide empowerment group, discusses media manipulation and how it can negatively impact girls’ self-perception. These groups help boost the confidence of participants undergoing puberty, a time wracked with physical and emotional changes that can lead to shifts in self-perception.

Whether you are a high school student who benefited from a similar organization, a relative of a girl in the program, or a community member with free time, volunteering at an event like the Girls on the Run 5K could be your first step in volunteering for similar causes and helping empower adolescent girls in the Philadelphia community.

There are numerous ways to get involved, and no one way is better than another.

For example, Team Up Philly, a group located in West Philly, blends physical, academic, and emotional empowerment; volunteers can help tutor participants and teach them about nutrition. Volunteers for Girls Inc., which has branches in Philadelphia, help prepare girls to be leaders. Additionally, many empowerment groups pair fitness with discussion about self-confidence.

Through this connection, girls work toward setting goals and working as a group to reach them. For example, participants in Girls on the Run share a common goal of training for a 5K, which contributes to its nationwide statistic of 85% of participants experiencing increased confidence, compassion, and connection. In my time volunteering, I’ve been able to directly see the impact of the girls’ increased excitement at practice, positive outlook, and boosted confidence.

It’s easy to think that someone else will step in and volunteer, but I have learned through my own volunteer work that if everyone felt that way, nothing would ever change. With female representation in City Hall remaining relatively low, and Philadelphia being the largest city in the nation without a WNBA team, we must empower our adolescent girls in a city that would benefit from an increased number of female role models.

According to a recent study, volunteers continue to report higher levels of happiness than non-volunteers. I know continuing to be involved in volunteering while at college has been extremely rewarding. Helping children learn to do something that I love, swimming, never fails to make me smile.

So, if helping at the finish line makes you smile, consider volunteering in the future with Philadelphia’s girls’ empowerment groups to build up the confidence of our girls and the tomorrow we envision.

I have been on the receiving end of the work of volunteers. When I was in middle school, I participated in I-tri, which made an immense impact on me, boosting my confidence both athletically and socially. Subsequently, I started to volunteer for it, which increased my positive outlook even more than participating. Volunteering in Philadelphia has continued to increase my happiness, and I am looking forward to staying involved in girls’ empowerment groups.

It is crucial to give back to the community that has given each of us so much. Building up and empowering the next generation of girls in Philadelphia can be the first step in creating a better future.

Isabelle Caplin is a freshman at the University of Pennsylvania planning on studying English.